Taking Control
by Firefly Fairy In A Bottle
Summary: As she grows, they grow, too. (A series of drabbles taking place at HQ.)
1. Solitude

"Where's Sadness?"

Disgust is the first to bring it up, but it takes a while; half an hour, to be exact. Joy actually didn't expect them to last that long (which is awfully surprising considering what an optimist she is, not to brag or anything), but maybe they're starting to understand Sadness a little better. Joy knows she certainly is.

"Still in bed, I think," Joy replies as she slides a tab on the control panel; an A+ response to the brand new box of Caramel Crunchies in the pantry. She doesn't take her eyes off the screen (she's not sure of the reaction she'll be getting here), but from her left she can hear Disgust click her tongue and to her right Anger grunts.

"Is she sick?" is Fear's immediate question.

Joy tries to focus on the buttons in front of her, but she really shouldn't be messing with Riley's emotions more than she has to. Not all of Riley's emotions have been happy lately, and Joy is starting to realize what a success that truly is. "Um, sorta, I guess."

"You _guess_?" Anger starts, and Joy knows she's in for it now. "Don't tell me she's just _skipping_ work." He gestures one red hand towards the display in front of them, where Riley has just poured herself a bowl of fresh Caramel Crunchies. "Riley has a game today! What happens if we lose?"

Joy turns to look at them this time, and it's now that she realizes they don't look annoyed; just apprehensive, and maybe a little worried. Secretly, Joy wonders who they're really worried about: Riley or Sadness. "If we need her, she'll be here. She _promised_." She tries her hardest to sound convincing, because she _knows_ Sadness would never lie to her, and she wants the others to know that, too.

Disgust raises one perfectly groomed eyebrow. "You talked to her?"

Joy hesitates—what is she getting at?—but nods anyways.

"See, the way you talked about it, it sounded like you had no idea what was going on."

At this, Joy stumbles. "What, I—Digust, _no—_ guys, listen. Sadness is just... having a down day."

Fear nearly trips over himself trying to hide behind Anger. "Down? You mean... she's... she's _unconscious_? W-w-what did you _do_ to he—"

"No, no, no! I mean, she's not feeling well!" She holds her hands out defensively, effectively cutting off Fear before he can say anything more. "And she's _not_ sick. At least, n-not physically."

Joy thinks she hears Disgust mutter, "Thank God."

"Then what's the deal?!" Anger cries, shooting Joy a look that _really_ isn't helping her right now.

"She's in a bad mood, alright?"

There's a distinct pause where the three of them do nothing but stare at her in disbelief. Then Fear clears his throat and speaks slowly, "Isn't she... always in a bad mood?"

Joy feels like she's been thrown for a loop. "Well, she...," fond memories fill her mind, and she can't help but let out a small sigh, "not _always_... Look guys, the point is that she really wants to be left alone right now. She said she'll head out when we need her or when she's feeling better or whatever, but for now..." She puts on her best _"please-just-give-me-a-break-she-needs-some-time"_ face, and the others seem to accept it with relative ease.

"Alright, do what you want," is Anger's response, and Joy feels pleased enough with that.

"Yeah," Disgust agrees, a smile playing at her lips. "After all, you know her best right?"

 _Know her best..._ Joy can't help but smile at that (she can't help smiling at a lot of things, though).

"I... I guess I do."


	2. Introduction

"Puberty" had been much worse than they had expected. Sadness and Anger were quick to take over when the growing pains begun, and you can bet Disgust and Fear had a field day when Riley's first period came around. Middle school wasn't much better; classes were confusing and the teachers were strict and there were so many people Riley didn't know around. It seemed that as soon as they were used to San Francisco, it had something new to throw at them.

It wasn't as if Riley wasn't happy, though—no, Joy still had plenty of time at the console. It was all such a _frenzy_ , though. There was so much to get used to, and they often found themselves scrambling, reaching over each other to press a button or grab hold of a lever; not to mention all the time they were running around, grabbing daydreams, ideas, memories... There was a sort of hustle they had never had before. You could even call it a panic, except no one other than Fear actually called it that.

But of course, the biggest challenge came in boys, but not necessarily for the expected reason. They had all seen Boy Band Island, of course, but only Joy and Sadness had seen the Imaginary Boyfriend Generator, and neither of them were keen enough on the idea to mention it to the others. So that means no one could have possibly been prepared for when an eighth grade boy approached Riley not a week into her first week of seventh grade, grinning her in a way that was not at all subtle.

No one quite knew what to do, but they didn't have to, because Disgust was drawn to the console like a magnet. "No!" she shrieked, offering little explanation as she pushed any button she could. "No way, _not_ happening!" On the monitor, they could hear Riley respond to his overly friendly remarks with a bit of quick wit, and the not-at-all-subtle boy was gone within moments.

"Disgust," Joy started, not doing anything to stop her. Somehow, she didn't feel a need to. "What?"

Disgust let her hands fall on the console with a mighty slam and turned a pointed expression to the rest of the group. "Riley can _not_ associate with the likes of him. Or any of them, for that matter."

"Who?" Sadness drawled. "Everyone? Because I think I saw most of them looking at us funny and—"

" _No_!" Disgust nearly scoffed, turning on her heel to face them fully. "The _boys_."

"What's wrong with boys?" is what Anger wanted to know, and the way he furrowed his brow only spelled out danger. Fear clearly looked like he wanted to ask the same of Disgust, but he seemed more than content to let Anger do the talking for him.

Disgust scowled, and then she _pouted_ , her lilac lips scrunching up to one side of her face. "It's nothing personal, guys. I just... I feel like Riley shouldn't get involved with these guys, you know?" She turned back to the view screen, staring at it like she could pull from it the words she wanted to say. "Like... it's not right for _her_."

And in that moment, some sort of strange understanding was flowing between them. They didn't know what it meant, and they wouldn't for quite a while, but no one made a move to stop Disgust the next time a boy tried to "introduce himself" to Riley.

But at the same time, no one thought much of the field day Joy was having in the presence of a few of Riley's female friends.


	3. Almost

He almost quit that day; the day they thought they would never see Joy and Sadness again. He had lifted himself up into the tube, the same way he had seen them escape the day before, and tried to remind himself that he wasn't _abandoning_ his friends. Well, okay. Maybe he was, but it was all in the name of self-preservation. Riley couldn't survive without Joy, and she would be better off without him. Besides, Joy and Sadness weren't coming back. They all knew that. Anger and Disgust would understand.

(Or maybe it was just him, with his quaking elbows and ever-shaking toes, who was paranoid enough to believe they'd never be able to show their faces in headquarters ever again. It had seemed rational at the time—they were stuck outside of the place they had always known as home, out in a maze of colored orbs and grey, lifeless islands. He remembered staring out the window _constantly_ , wondering if he'd catch a glimpse of yellow or blue, but it was all such a blur. The colors all seemed to blend into one, or maybe he was just shaking so hard he couldn't see straight.)

And yet he was oddly happy when the pipe shot him right back out, even if he felt battered and worse-for-wear.

Then, later on, he almost snatched that angular lightbulb right out of Anger's hands. He wanted so badly to reprimand him for his actions; how _dare_ he put Riley in that sort of danger? It was Fear's job to keep her safe, after all. It was simply in his job description to do such a thing.

(But of course, he couldn't do something like that. No matter how much he protested, whined, or begged, he couldn't say a foul word in Anger's direction. He was scared; just as scared as he always was, but perhaps a little bit more. Why shouldn't he have been? The circumstances were dire. But there was something more to it than that; it was as if he didn't want to ruin... _something_. Something he couldn't quite place, but something that was certainly there and making him more nervous than usual. An agreement, perhaps. An agreement between the three of them that he wasn't ready to break.)

And yet his hand lingered there in mid-air, unable to make a move, even if he knew he'd be doing what was right.

He was almost, oddly enough, _disappointed_ during the first few days after Sadness and Joy's return. No, no, "disappointed" wasn't the right word. He was definitely relieved, but things just felt... lukewarm, at best.

(And a small part of him—a tiny part of him that he didn't want to acknowledge—knew exactly why that was. He had gotten a taste of something he liked and now he didn't want to let go of it. Riley surely couldn't function without Joy and Sadness, but there was a _rush_ that only Anger and Disgust could give him. He hadn't noticed it until the others were gone, but now that they were back Fear wishes he had one more moment to figure out just what it was.)

And yet he felt alright, but only when he felt Disgust's hand on his shoulder and saw a rare smile flicker across Anger's face.

And then... he almost wished he didn't figure out just what it was he had been feeling all those days ago. He'd almost holed himself up in his room, almost skipped work, almost even thought about _talking_ to them, had almost _told_ them...

(That rush had _not_ been anything he could have expected, but somehow he didn't feel surprised. Something about it felt _right_ , no matter how much he told himself it had to be wrong. He had to belong with _one_ , if he belonged with anybody at all. And he doubted he did; who would ever love a shaking, sniveling mess like him?)

And yet he felt light as a feather when he walked up to the console that day, oddly happy at the sight of them arguing.

Joy and Sadness had overslept, and he was glad to have but a minute alone with them. For once in his life, he felt content to let his feelings be, even if there was almost nothing he could do about them.


	4. SHUT UP

Anger has always worked on instinct, and no one can really blame him for that, because all five of them do. Maybe he was a little quicker to the controls than his coworkers and _maybe_ he was a little harder to drag him away from the console when he was really agitated, but could you argue that moments like that were _his_ fault?

...Yes. Yeah, that would be a safe argument.

But regardless of the trouble it caused, Anger continued to work on instinct. It was the only way he knew how to work; in fact, it was the only way he knew how to _live_. He worked on instinct, made all of his decisions on instinct, acted on instinct, said things on instinct...

That last one had caused him trouble time and time again. Because as it turns out, it's very easy to say things you don't necessarily mean when you don't think before you speak. Who knew, right?

And that leaves him in his current situation; wedged between Disgust and Fear in front of the console, striking his hands on any button he can reach. It's a bad day for Riley, but not a sad one, which means Sadness and Joy have opted to stand a safe distance away and watch the sparks fly.

"I can't believe this," Disgust is hissing, but with her voice 'hissing' sounds much more like 'shrieking'. "I can't _believe_ this!" He surges forward, wraps her palm around a lever, and yanks it back. "If one more girl comes by and stares at us funny, I am going to _vomit_." _  
_

Fear doesn't even wait to start his rant; in fact, it feels like they started talking at the same time—

"Ohhh... you don't think they're judging us again, do you?" He slams his hand down on a whole row of tabs and pushes them up. "We're not doing anything weird, are we?"

—like they're just perfectly in sync, like they're—

"I spent all of last night picking this outfit; it's like, who do they think they are?"

—just so in tune they can read each other's damn _minds_ —

"Do we have toilet paper stuck to our shoe?" The view on the monitor shifts down to Riley's feet, but there's no toilet paper to be found. "Or food on our face? O-or maybe we have something sticking out of our nose?"

—they're not even talking to each other, can't they just _stop_ —

"Ew! Can you just cut that out, I'm trying to figure out what these girls want!"

—oh, but _now_ they are, of course—

" _You're_ trying to figure it out? I-I'm trying harder than anyone here! Do you think we have a stain on our shirt?"

—they don't need him, they've never needed that—

"I would _never_ pick out a _stained_ shirt! They're probably noticing how much we're _shaking_ , no thanks to you."

—why does he even care what they think of him, they're just a couple of fussy little—

"We aren't shaking! My hand is nowhere near that button, see?"

—who get along with each other way better than they'd ever get along with him—

"Oh, well, I'm _sorry_ if I didn't notice you push every button other than that one!"

—of course they do, they're always together, they're always paying attention to each _other—_

"I've been very selective! You're the one who can't keep your hands away from the console; you'll make Riley _puke_ at this rate!"

—and he's just always left, out, always forgotten, always—

"Euuugggh! I'm the one who's going to puke if you don't stop _talking_ about it!"

—alwaysalwaysalways _always_ —

"Will the two of you just SHUT _UP_?"

Fear and Disgust both stop mid-sentence, frozen until they realize how close they are to the blazing fire rising from the flat top of Anger's head. Disgust steps back with a shout, the flames just barely licking her neckerchief. Fear is a lot more jumpy about his escape; fleeing halfway across the headquarters until he's hidden safely behind Sadness. She regards him with a vague look of surprise, but otherwise keeps her eyes firmly planted on Anger.

"What the hell was _that_ for?" Disgust demands, and Anger is quick to answer.

"I'm sick and tired of you and Fear's non-stop blabbing! Who _cares_ if Riley's got more mud on her shoes or if some good-for-nothing bitch—" Joy gasps at this, but Anger doesn't stop (he can't stop) "—thinks her shirt's the wrong shade of green? I don't! And I don't need to put up with this!" And even though he says he doesn't care, he still turns around and shoves some levers forward, smacks some buttons, and all around throws a temper tantrum on the console before he storms back to his bedroom. He tries hard to ignore the feeling of their eyes on him; Joy's sympathetic gaze, Sadness' drowsy stare, Fear's trembling gawk, Disgust's sharpened glare...

They can deal with her bad mood themselves. It's not like he can make her feel better, anyways.


	5. Plaid

"I swear to God, Joy, if you take another step towards that sweater—"

"Aw, c'mon, Disgust! You don't always hafta be such a buzzkill!"

"It's _hideous_."

"It's _cute_!"

This is a relatively commonplace occurrence in the recesses of Riley's mind, so the others hardly feel concerned enough to do anything but sit by and watch. Or perhaps "relatively commonplace" isn't the right phrase. This happens nearly every time Riley goes shopping, whether it be with her mother, her friends, or just by herself. Joy and Disgust have their hands wrapped firmly around the same lever, yanking back and forth in a game of fashion tug-of-war (the others aren't exactly enjoying this scene; except for Anger, who's always up to watching a bit of conflict, so long as he isn't involved).

"It's really not that bad, Disgust," Joy insists, pushing the lever forward. She leans her weight against it, hoping it's enough to keep Disgust from pulling back. On the view screen, Riley lifts up a red-and-black plaid-print sweater, looking at it indecisively.

Disgust struggles with the lever this time, clawing at it hopelessly. "I can't believe you're saying this," she groans, sounding as if she might be sick (Fear recoils a little at this thought).

"Think about it," Joy continues as if she hadn't heard a single word out of Disgust (much to Sadness' understated exasperation), "if we pair it with that navy skirt we wore last Wednesday, or those shorts we bought for the camping trip—"

"Joy, it's _plaid_!"

"—it could be really cute! You just gotta give it a try!"

"No way," Disgust chokes out, finally managing to pull the lever with enough force to push Joy away from the console (which makes Fear jump, Sadness rise from her seat, and Anger nearly give out a cheer). "It's a hopeless cause!" she cries, holding a hand to her stomach as she expertly presses a few choice buttons. On cue, Riley sets down the sweater and turns to walk away from the display.

Joy can only frown at her from a distance. She doesn't even bother to get up until Sadness tries to pull her up from one arm; it's then that she gets back on her feet. "Disgust...," she drones, hoping she might be able to convince her friend otherwise.

"You can live without one sweater, Joy. Remember what happened the last time we wore one of your monstrosities?"

No one says a word, but Anger moves to bury his face in his newspaper.


End file.
